There’s about £2.7 trillion invested in UK pensions. But is your pension funding harmful industries like fossil fuels, tobacco, and arms? What’s the point in saving for retirement when the world is on fire?
Have a watch of this video made by the good people at Make My Money Matter:
At COP26, conference President Alok Sharma drew attention to the importance of greening pension funds in mitigating the climate crisis. He pointed out that $47tr is at stake in pension funds globally – that’s a lot of money that could be doing good things in the world!
According to Make My Money Matter, greening up your pension could have 21 times the impact on reducing your carbon footprint than giving up flying of eating veggie combined (but please still do these things too! We need to throw everything we can at this!)
They have produced a handy Ten Step Guide to Greening your pension.
What kind of pension do you have?
There are two types of pension in the UK besides your state pension – a workplace pension or a personal pension. A workplace pension is one that your employer signs onto where you and your employer both add money. A private pension is arranged by you rather than your workplace.
Greening workplace pensions:
You may be enrolled in a workplace pension scheme without knowing how your money is being invested and you might be investing your savings in companies that don’t align with your values.
You can speak to your employer about the pension fund they sign up to, and encourage them to sign up to a scheme such as the green pensions charter, where employers call on pension funds to agree to net-zero targets.
Or contact your pension provider directly and ask them to make sure your pension funds are being invested ethically.
The employer guide by Make My Money Matter is still relevant if you’re self-employed.
